Upcoming Retreat - His Healing Touch

A little cat adopted me recently.  He kept appearing patiently on my doorstep after his owner moved into a care home.  He would literally tap, tap, tap on the glass with his paw and then wait for me to let him in.  The curious thing is he never wanted to be fed - he simply wanted company, it seemed.  And I very soon got used to having him around, brushing up against my legs, purring contentedly as I stroked him, and gradually establishing his very own place on the sofa!

I knew I couldn't keep him long term, so with some reluctance I found someone else to love him.  And that was the top and bottom of our short relationship really - that cat simply wanted to show me he loved me, and he wanted to know I loved him.

And isn't that true of God? 

 

We can make God very complicated, but He simply wants to shower us with His love.  That's what the coming of the Kingdom is all about.  God longs with all His heart to bring us 'fully alive' with His love, and when we're able to receive that love, it brings healing.  That doesn't always mean a physical 'cure', though sometimes it does. Only this week, a friend of mine received significant healing through prayer after having the misfortune to be seriously trampled on by a cow. But healing can be on many other levels too.  And I truly believe that when we open ourselves to God's love, at some level we receive profound healing. 

If you'd like to join me, I'll be offering an opportunity to explore God's healing grace at the beautifully peaceful  Penhurst Retreat Centre.  The retreat is entitled 'His Healing Touch' and runs from 13th - 16th July.  There's still a few places left.  We'll be praying and meditating with the healing scriptures, and opening ourselves to God's healing presence.  Why not come if you can?   Or perhaps you know someone else who might be blessed by this?

 

Thank you to all those who continue to support my ministry both prayerfully and financially - you are very much part of all I do.  Please pray for divine inspiration as I prepare materials for this event.  And please pray that God will draw to the retreat those whom He wants to be there.  And of course - pray that healing will flow!

 

I'll let you know how it goes   ...

 

. 

Continuing the Journey

It shouldn't surprise me, but do you know   ...   it always does.  I'm talking about the way God has a habit of bringing across our path exactly the people we need to meet, at exactly the right time!  A recent conference impacted me more than I could ever have imagined it would, and those unexpected encounters were a large part of that.

 

The Continuing the Journey conference brought together a diverse group of Christians, all of whom were involved in some form of caring role - counsellors, psychotherapists, retreat leaders, pastors, spiritual directors, art therapists, etc  ...   and some folks with several of those hats on.  It was an opportunity to share our stories and (as it said on the advert) to 'explore the tension between world and church, nature and grace, current psychology and Christian theology'.  And it changed me.

One of the most beautiful gatherings I have ever been to, within the framework of first class speakers and varied and interesting workshops, the conference managed to also honour the value of shared silence and opportunities for deep reflection.  It also honoured the importance of laughter! And a deeply thoughtful, reflective and contemporary rhythm of worship held the whole in a holistic embrace that carried us through the journey. 

After an extremely stressful and demanding seven months, during which all my writing and ministry had been put on hold, I arrived at the conference jaded and exhausted.  I felt as if I simply couldn't see a way forward.  It was only on my return home that I realise how deeply affirming, and in many ways life-changing, the week had been.  I am now in a peaceful place, once more deeply assured in my calling, and have re-established the contemplative rhythms that had been seriously eroded by circumstances.  And, for me, when those rhythms are in place then I am more able to follow the Spirit's promptings and somehow life just 'flows'. 

 

A tiny Herb Robert flower, which I walked past every day of the conference, spoke into my heart.  Each time I paused to admire it, climbing its way up the stonework, I realised that in that location, between the path and the wall,  it only became all it was capable of being by holding on to those things that helped it to grow.

 

There's a lesson for all of us in that!

 

So  ...   give thanks for the God of unexpected encounters, for the Creator God who speaks through his creation, and for those who facilitated a brilliant conference.  Please pray too that connections that were made there will bear fruit in God's good time.

On the personal front, the pressures are now easing as my father settles comfortably into the care of others.  Thank you to those of you who have prayed us through this time.  Finally, I can pick up the threads of the various projects that I laid down last October.  Please pray for me as I do so.

Thank you.

May God surprise you in delightful ways as you continue your own journey!
.

Still Points

I remain more and more convinced that we all need still points in our days.  In this busy, media-driven world we need down-time; we need stillness to sustain our mental health.  And, for those of us who would express it that way, we need silence to be more deeply aware of God.

'Be still   ...   and now that I am God',   writes the psalmist.

A recent retreat at Elterwater Park has restored and renewed me after some difficult and hugely demanding times.  My time apart was a perfect antidote to the stresses and responsibilities that have dominated the past few months as I have needed to care for and support my increasingly frail father.

And what a gem of a find Stillpoints @ Elterwater was: a beautiful, remote country guest house, nestling amid the glorious Lake District fells, where Lesley and Neil McCririe offer superb God-centred hospitality and, for those who would like it, the opportunity to make an individually guided retreat.  Not a conventional retreat house as such, the house operates primarily as a B&B, but other than at breakfast times the house is deliciously quiet. Surrounded by love, I enjoyed homely touches, 4-star meals, beautiful countryside, a relaxing log fire, deep stillness, a discerning guide in Lesley  ...   and God   ...   all seasoned with friendship and a level of TLC above and beyond the call of duty.  It was a deeply healing time.  And I returned home well rested and with new God-given perspectives on the difficult situations that currently surround me.  In short, I was reminded of why I remain passionate about the value of retreats.  Give thanks for the ministry of Lesley & Neil and for a very restorative retreat.

And so to an apology.  Many of you will know that I have had to temporarily step aside from various projects and to postpone some planned retreats.  Frustrating though this has been, I think sometimes God calls us aside from what may be a fruitful ministry in order to incarnate something equally good, but different.  And this seems to be His call to me at the moment.  So, for now, I shall follow His leading to devote the next few months to the needs of my seriously ill father.  After that, as he settles into the care of others, I hope to be resuming my current ministry.  In the meantime, I would very much value your prayers.

Thank you for your continuing support in so many ways. 

May moments of stillness weave themselves into your days and draw you deeper into God.

And if you might benefit from an experience of a first-class guided retreat, check out Stillpoints @ Elterwater  -  I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

.

Turbulence

I have been hugely grateful for my contemplative practice these last few months.  The simple discipline of pausing regularly to bring myself to stillness before God has been my anchor through some turbulent storms.  And Ann Liddell's words, 'With Jesus in the vessel I smile at the storm', have been a constant musical mantra in my head.

My planned time of writing was unfortunately cut short due to further illness and difficulties with my elderly father.  From a month of quiet solitude I found myself plunged into a veritable whirlwind of decisions, actions and bedside times and for several weeks the demands of the present and the pressures of the moment dominated my life completely. 

Thankfully, all is well.  But I'm reminded that we're frequently not in control of our own lives, in the way we'd like to be, are we?  I had to set aside my writing projects to focus on more immediate priorities.  And I can think of  many known to me for whom the run up to Christmas is far from how they would have preferred it to be.  People who are struggling, grieving, fearful; people whose lives have been turned upside down at the drop of a hat.  People who today shudder at the words, 'Merry Christmas'.  People who may well be asking, 'Where's God in all this?'. 

My awareness of 'God in all this', though often shaken, renews and deepens itself through stillness and silence.  In the deep place of prayer I experience the truth of those words, 'I am with you always'.  He is, whether or not we feel him to be.  The One who entered our world in the messy reality of a Bethlehem stable, birthing himself in the midst of a struggling, oppressed community - that's the one who still invites us, moment by moment, to let Him be birthed in our lives.  He knows about struggle.  He knows about the imperfections of our world.  And He knows about solutions.

So, let's celebrate the birth of Jesus with every ounce of our being.  But let's also hold in our hearts those who need to know His presence most at this special time.

I thank you all for your friendship and support and wish you all a peaceful Christmas.

.

A time to write

Don't you just hate the way that Christmas hits the shops in September? 

I certainly do.  But this August Bank Holiday weekend found me preparing for Christmas!  Crazy, I know - but there was a reason.   I am about to 'go to ground' in order to concentrate on some writing, so I don't anticipate being around very much between now and Christmas.  Hence, I must get organised!

As Virginia Woolf famously said, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write".  This is certainly true for me.  All my best work has been written in quiet spaces, well away from the many distractions of home.  So, I will be kick-starting this period with time at a Writers' Retreat Space in Devon.  Following that I shall be retreating for large chunks of time to a much loved cottage in Northumberland, within a stone's throw of Holy Island.

I am very grateful to those folks who offered me writing space, and to Ros Reay for reducing her prices for me.  Thank you to you all - I appreciated your generous offers.

After some difficult days recently, with my father's emergency admission to hospital, I am immensely tired and my first important need is for quality rest.  Please pray for rest and refreshment as I begin this creative time.  Please also pray protection on my father's health.

So what will I be writing?   Mainly healing meditations, for recording onto CD; but also some liturgy.  If all goes well, I hope to also begin a book about healing; something which God laid on my heart during my New Zealand experience.   I'll tell you what emerges when I get to the other side of this time!   Please pray for Spirit-inspired writing.  And please pray protection on this time, that it won't be interrupted by any further emergencies.  Please also pray for stamina when the going gets tough!

These are fairly big projects that will require both time and money to bring them to completion.  They are projects which people have been encouraging me to undertake for some time and which I believe could significantly help people to find healing, which is why I'm prepared to give my time to them for a period of months.  Please pray that the necessary funding will emerge. 

I am deeply indebted to you all for your continuing support and encouragement - and if you get a Christmas card from me, just remember   ...   it was probably written in August!

.

A channel for His grace

I have learnt much, of late, about total dependence on God  ...   about acknowledging my weaknesses and simply offering myself to be a channel.  There were several moments of extreme tiredness during my recent retreat leading at Penhurst; times when I simply had to surrender and pray 'not in my strength, but yours, God'.  And whenever I did that the outcomes were remarkable: words were given, there was a tangible deepening of the presence of the Spirit, and healing and renewal flowed in powerful ways.

"A life-changing experience", was how one person described the Touching the Cloak retreat.  Give thanks for the deep healing that happened at Penhurst and please pray that that healing would be sustained.

It still delights me to witness how healing can flow when people are enabled to open themselves up to the real and present possibility of God's intervention, and it was a pleasure and privilege to lead at Penhurst, a space of immense tangible peace.

Thank you to all who underpin my work with your vital prayers.  And thank you to all who enable this ministry by your financial support.

I shall be offering another healing retreat in that special place in July 2014, and one at the Windermere Centre in March.

Meanwhile, after a very busy six months, I'm now enjoying some rest and refreshment and am off to New Wine tomorrow.  Please pray for refreshment and spiritual nourishment.

Following that, I shall be taking some time out to settle into a variety of writing projects.  More on that later   ...

For now, my love and prayers to you all   ...   summer blessings to my readers in the UK, and winter blessings to those of you on the opposite side of the world!

.

Deep Silence

 

Thank you to all who underpinned my recent event with prayer.  It was a pleasure to lead another Touching the Cloak day - this time for the folks at Holy Trinity, Meir.  And, on a Saturday in June, a little corner of Stoke-on-Trent became a 'thin place'. Deep healing flowed in the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit.

One participant summed the day up for me when she said, "It saddens me that people who don't believe healing is possible just don't realise what they're missing".  Amen to that!

Deep silence, combined with imaginative contemplation with the healing scriptures, often proves to be a powerful vehicle for facilitating healing.  I continue to feel deeply humbled whenever this happens. Ignatius, who first recognised the benefits of contemplation with the scriptures, would have been thrilled!

Of course, deep silence in its raw simplicity can heal too.  By this I mean deep internal silence, as in the stillness of contemplative prayer.  This is something that a group of us explored with Fr. Martin Laird last weekend in an event at Tabor Retreat House.  As well as drawing on Fr. Martin's extensive experience of this practice, we explored, with his help, the increasingly accepted medical benefits of contemplative prayer and the riches of finding communion with God.  For anyone interested in this, I highly recommend Martin Laird's two books, Into the Silent Land and A Sunlit Absence.

Please pray for me now as I complete my preparations to lead a Touching the Cloak retreat next week at Penhurst.  Please pray for Spirit-led preparation and for God to touch each participant in ways beyond their imagining.

Finally, some exciting news.  Look out for Mary Fleeson, the illustrator of my new book, who will be appearing on Songs of Praise soon. The programme is due to be broadcast on August 4th.  Catch it if you can!

Thank you again for your much valued prayerful support.   

Summer blessings to you all. 

.